Wellington city raising water rates

City of Wellington water customers will soon see their water bills increase, and the increase will be greater for those that use the most water.

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Wellington Daily News - Wellington, KS

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Posted Jun. 18, 2014 at 10:11 PM

Posted Jun. 18, 2014 at 10:11 PM

City of Wellington water customers will soon see their water bills increase, and the increase will be greater for those that use the most water.

It is partly to recoup costs, and partly to encourage conservation of water. The City Council has been talking about water for months, and hope to cut water use and to encourage people to help with conservation.

The city is also considering ways of encouraging people to save water. One way is to give a rebate for certain devices, such as high efficiency toilets or rain barrels.

The city may also give people shower heads and faucet aerators in exchange for old ones that are not as efficient.

City officials wanted to lessen the impact on those that don’t use much water to start with, such as one person living alone in a house. Someone using 4,000 gallons a month, which is the average, would pay about 45 cents a month more with the new plan.

The biggest difference would be for industrial users who use a lot of water. Their ill could go up as much as 18 percent.

Residential and business customers alike will see the amount they pay for water increase as they use more water.

Finances were a major topic at the most recent worksession meeting by the Wellington City Council.

They are considering asking voters for another half-cent in sales tax for the hospital. There was a half cent sales tax that expired at the end of 2013. Another half-cent is currently on the books and is set to expire July of 2015.

The question could be on the ballot by the August primary, or in the November general election.

Interim City Manager Shane Shields began showing city council members a proposed budget for 2015. Numbers are preliminary, and they wont know how much money they have until after July when tax valuations come in.

The fire department is asking for more people, as is the police department.